Musical instrument mouthpiece



United States Patent() 3,191,483 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MOUTHPIECE WilliamR.v Williams, 1548 Olive Ave., Redding, Calif. Filed Dec. 14, 1964,Ser'. No. 418,106 3 Claims. (Cl. 84-398) The invention relates tomouthpieces for particular use on musical instruments of the brassvariety.

Most Ibrass instruments include a tube within which is inserted, in aninterference type of fit, the stern or shank of a mouthpiece.

Altogether too frequently the mouthpiece becomes tightly lodged in theinstrument and becomes impossible to remove by hand. To overcome thisdihculty, numerous tools and pieces of apparatus have been devised. Theproblem is, however, that such devices are fairly expensive, take up toomuch poom to be packed in the instrument case and are easily mislaid.

It is therefore .an object of the invention to provide a musicalinstrument mouthpiece which affords its own means for dislodging themouthpiece from the instrument tube.

It is another object of the invention to provide a mouthpiece which isquite inexpensive, yet which is durable and long-lived.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a mouthpiece which isonly slightly larger in size than the conventional mouthpiecesheretofore used.

It is yet a further object to provide a mouthpiece device which isreliable in operation yand which obviates the necessity for separatepuller tools'.

It is another object of the invention to provide a generally improvedmusical instrument mouthpiece.

Other objects, together with the foregoing, are attained in theembodiment described in the following description and shown in theaccompanying drawing in which:

FIG. l is a median longitudinal sectional view showing the shank of themouthpiece lodged in the tube of a musical instrument, portions of thetube being cut away to reduce the extent of the figure; and,

FIG. 2 is `a view comparable to that of FIG.k 1 but illustrating therelative position of the parts at the conclusion of the dislodgingoperation.

While the device of the invention is susceptible of numerous physicalembodiments, depending upon the environment and requirements of use,substantial numbers of the herein shown and described embodiment havebeen made, tested and used, and all have performed in an eminentlysatisfactory manner.

The musical instrument mouthpiece of the invention, generally designatedby the reference numeral 12, comprises a circular cylindrical bellmember 13, or mouthpiece element, of the conventional variety includinga bellshaped `cavity 14 to receive the lips of the musician.

Mounted on the inner end of the bell, and coaxially therewith, is anelongated hollow shank 16 including a flange portion 17, ya threadedportionA 18 and a stem portion 19.

The stem portion 19 is provided with .a slightly converging taperedportion 21 adjacent its end 22 for ready insertion into the tube 26 of amusical instrument (not shown),

such as a trumpet. The taper feature is conventional in many mouthpiecesand serves to provide a wedge or interference type of fit within thetube walls. v

The taper portion 21, as can be seen by reference to FIG. 2, whichsomewhat emphasizes the extent of the taper to illustrate the point,also facilitates the removal of the stem once the seal or wedge litbetween the interfaces is broken. y

The problem is that the stem often becomes so tightly lodged in the tubeas to make its removal by hand .ex-

3,191,483 Patented Junef2n9., 1965 ICAC tremely diflcult, if notimpossible, as every knows.

I have therefore incorporated in the mouthpiece as an integral partthereof, a member which can becalled a puller, and whi-ch is generallydesignated by the reference numeral 31.

The puller 31 is located coaxially on the shank 16 and is normallyinterposed between the inner end 32 of the mouthpiece member 13 `and theshoulder 3-3 of the instrument tube 26.

The puller 31 includes a hollow circular cylindrical portion 36 havingits outer periphery knurled as at 37. The cylinder 36 connects with aconical transition portion 38 which, in turn, is joined to a slightlytapered hollow stem portion 39 terminating in a shoulder 41 adapted toabut the tube shoulder 33 when the mouthpiece is being used to play theinstrument.

FIG. l illustrates the mouthpiece in its norm-a1, installed position,with the tapered stem portion 21 inserted snugly into the tube 26, andwith the puller shoulder 41 in close juxaposition with respect to thetube shoulder 33.

The interior walls of the puller are provided with threads 46 inengagement with the exterior threads 18 on the shank 16.

Thus, when it is desired to dislodge the mouthpiece device from theinstrument tube, it is only necessary f-or the musician to grasp theknurled portion 37 of the puller and appropriately rotate the pullerabout its own axis.

This action first causes the puller shoulder 41 to come into tightabutment with the tube shoulder 33. Further rotation of the pullereffects an unscrewing of lthe mouthpiece, urging 4the mouthpiece in aleft hand direction (see FIG. 2), and withdrawing the tapered mouthpiecestem 21 from the tube 26 with great force.

It has been `found that by suitably dimensioning the threads, sufficientforce can be generated to dislodge even the tightest t; and this can beaccomplished, furthermore, by making the cylinder portion 36 of thepuller the same ydiameter as the cylindrical por-tion 13 of themouthpiece, thus giving the entire device a uniform, pleasingappearance,

When the seal is broken, as in FIG. 2, the mouthpiece stem 21 canreadily be removed from the tube 26.

It can therefore be seen that I have provided a very useful and compactmusical instrument mouthpiece device which includes within itself allstructure necessary to dislodge the mouthpiece from an instrument tube.

What is claimed is:

l1. A musical instrument mouthpiece for use on an instrument tube, saidmouthpiece comprising:

(a) a mouthpiece bell;

(b) a hollow shank mounted on one end of said bell,

musician said shank having exterior screw threads formed thereonadjacent said bell and being tapered on the end remote from said bellfor wedging engagement with the interior walls of van instrument tube;and, (c) a mouthpiece dislodging member including a hollow circularcylindrical head portion provided with interior screw threads inthreaded engagement with said exterior screw threads on said shank and ahollow stem portion mounted on `one end of said head portion andextending into abutting engagement withV the shoulder onthe end of aninstrument tube for disc) Y lon said bell portion, said shankterminating adjacent as said cylinder is rotated relative to said shankand the `other end in -a tapered stern for engagement with therebydislodge said shank from the tube. the hollow tube; and, ReferencesCited by the Examiner (c) a puller member including an interiorlythreaded FORE N P TE cylinder in threaded engagement with the threads on'f IG A NTS said shank, said cylinder being formed at one end to 3978655/09 France- `bear against the adjacent end yof the instrument tube LEOSMILOW, Primary Examiner.

1. A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MOUTHPIECE FOR USE ON AN INSTRUMENT TUBE, SAIDMOUTHPIECE COMPRISING: (A) A MOUTHPIECE BELL; (B) A HOLLOW SHANK MOUNTEDON ONE END OF SAID BELL, SAID SHANK HAVING EXTERIOR SCREW THREADS FORMEDTHEREON ADJACENT SAID BELL AND BEING TAPERED ON THE END REMOTE FROM SAIDBELL FOR WEDGING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE INTERIOR WALLS OF AN INSTRUMENTTUBE; AND, (C) A MOUTHPIECE DISLODGING MEMBER INCLUDING A HOLLOWCIRCULAR CYLINDRICAL HEAD PORTION PROVIDED WITH INTERIOR SCREW THREADSIN THREADED ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID EXTERIOR SCREW THREADS ON SAID SHANKAND A HOLLOW STEM PORTION MOUNTED ON ONE NEND OF SAID HEAD PORTION ANDEXTENDING INTO ABUTTING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SHOULDER ON END OF ANINSTRUMENT TUBE FOR DISLODGING SAID SHANK AS SAID THREADS ARE SCREWEDRELATIVE TO EACH OTHER.